Celebrities ruin sanctity of marriage

This past week was ridiculous in celebrity news. Between Justin Bieber allegedly fathering a child and Kim Kardashian filing for divorce, the juices were flowing in the blogosphere and gossip magazine offices, making my bi-weekly trip to Wal-Mart a torturous one. I understand that placing the gossip magazines at eye level helps to sell issues, but I really did not need Kim Kardashian staring me down as I waited to check out.

Now let it be said, my intake of celebrity gossip is at a minimum. I do not care who is dating whom, who has gone under the knife or which celebrity couple is expecting a first child. A celebrity's drug addictions and excess cellulite really do not do anything for me. It is their lack of courtesy when it comes to marriage and relationships that rubs me the wrong way.

I am sure if you have even glimpsed at a People or Us! Weekly you know which people are serial daters, which ones are more likely to be caught in a club on a random Tuesday night and who is secretly pregnant. When divorce or marriage enters the equation, every magazine is dedicated to splashing all the details across the pages. We are obsessed with the private lives of movie stars and musicians, and frankly I am sick of it.

When your average citizen files for divorce, it is usually not highly publicized. It is a delicate matter, especially when kids, homes and assets are involved. Not too long ago, getting divorced was devastating, for the couple, and their family and friends. I am sure the increasing divorce rate in America is not shocking news, and as well the distain I have with celebrities' treatment of marriage.

Do not get me wrong, it is not just celebrities who abuse their right to get married. I think that a good portion of the general population rushes into marriage.

It is a commercial industry. There is a market value to getting married and it is a sign of status. I do not think that everyone spends $10 million on their weddings like Kim Kardashian did, but many people dream of having the means to do that. Popular shows like Say Yes to the Dress, Bridezilla and Four Weddings do nothing to discourage our obsession with getting married. Sure, it might force people to look closely at the price tag of a wedding dress or venue, but it encourages competition between brides.

TV Specials like Kim's [Kardashian] Fairytale Wedding only adds fuel to the fire instead of focusing on the beautiful (and challenging) relationship that a marriage can produce. I assume the entire special is about the drama behind planning for a wedding, instead of the personal journey the bride and groom are supposed to be embarking on.

We think if you can plan and execute a beautiful, expensive wedding, you can easily manage the difficulties of the marriage itself.

The whole notion of a wedding bringing two people together, bonding them for life, is lost within the commercial wormhole the wedding industry produces.

As many writers and ranters have said before me, so many celebrities enter marriage without thinking there will be any repercussions. It is treated like a commodity, instead of a lifelong commitment. There are so many people in the world who would love the right to marry, but are denied it because they stand out from the hetero-normative world we live in.  

I realize that saying celebrities abuse their right to marry is hackneyed. It is old news, but it truly bothers me. We focus too much on the private details of people we will never meet or be friends with.

There is a certain excitement in thinking how wild, crazy and privileged the life of a celebrity is, but is it really worth it if your life is based on forced perceptions? Do you really want to be known as the woman who spent $10 million on her nuptials, broadcast the drama of it all on TV, only to have it fall apart a month later? I certainly would not.